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Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story is the second season of the anthology series, Monster. The biographical crime drama is created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. It features nine episodes, all of them premiering at once on September 19, 2024, on Netflix.
This season documents the real-life murders of José (Javier Bardem) and his wife Kitty Menendez (Chloë Sevigny) at the hands of their sons, Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik (Cooper Koch) in 1989.
Netflix describes the synopsis of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story as follows:
"This riveting true-crime drama probes the lives of the Menendez brothers, convicted of the brutal 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills."
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Yes, the show's episode 5 titled The Hurt Man was filmed in a single, continuous shot and lasted for around 36 minutes.
The filming of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story episode 5 explained
The show's episode 5, The Hurt Man, has a shorter runtime of 36 minutes compared to the rest of the episodes, which play out as hour-long episodes.
It features only two people, Erik Menendez (Cooper Koch) and his lawyer Leslie Abramson (Ari Graynor) and was filmed as one continuous shot without any cuts or edits.
In the episode, Erik narrates his experience with se*ual, physical and mental abuse in excrutiating detail to his lawyer. The camera is fixated on Koch for the entire 36 minutes as he delivers his gut-wrenching speech. Graynor is only filmed from behind, with her face pointed away from the camera and towards Koch.
Cooper spoke to TheWrap about preparing for the emotional scene in September 2024:
“I read it every day leading up to (filming). I had this groove for a long time. I read it before I went to bed. I really tried to get all of those memories to be so real and specific for me, so that when I recounted them, they would evoke an emotional response.”
Graynor revealed that Ian Brennan wrote The Hurt Man almost a year before the episode was filmed. In preparation for the pivotal scene, both actors read the scene together and rehearsed it only once in front of the show's writers and directors so as to keep things authentic.
Michael Uppendahl directed the emotional scene/episode over two days with eight takes in total. The take that made it to the screen is the very last shot on the second day.
Graynor reflected on the importance of the scene by stating in the same interview:
"It makes me happy, because once you put that out in the world — to have a model of Leslie listening and holding that space..... but to be able to say that to him and to potentially have anyone hear something who’s never shared their story to hear ‘You did not deserve that’ and ‘That is not what a parent is’ is really important."
Plot summary of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story
Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story is a fictional account of the real-life murders committed by two brothers, Lyle And Erik Menendez.
The duo made headlines in 1989 for brutally killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. The events surrounding the murder, subsequent prosecution and eventual conviction of the brothers forms the crux of the series.
The series examines the events that led to the murder from different perspectives. It details the brothers' shocking claims of physical, emotional and se*ual abuse at the hands of their parents. Furthermore, it also includes the parents' point of view which, according to the show's creators, was based on extensive research.
Cast and characters of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story
The show's main cast list is given below:
- Javier Bardem as José Menendez
- Chloë Sevigny as Mary Louise 'Kitty' Menendez
- Cooper Koch as Erik Menendez
- Nicholas Alexander Chavez as Lyle Menendez
- Ari Graynor as Leslie Abramson
- Nathan Lane as Dominick Dunne
- Dallas Roberts as Dr. Jerome Oziel
- Jason Butler Harner as Det. Les Zoeller
- Leslie Grossman as Judalon Smyth
- Marlene Forte as Marta Cano
- Larry Clarke as Brian Andersen
- Charlie Hall as Craig Cignarelli
- Jeff Perry as Peter Hoffman
- Jade Pettyjohn as Jamie Pisarcik
- Tanner Stine as Perry Berman
- Enrique Murciano as Carlos Baralt
- Drew Powell as Det. Tom Linehan
- Michael Gladis as Tim Rutten
- Gil Ozeri as Dr. William Vicary
- Salvator Xuereb as Robert Shapiro
- Brandon Santana as Tony
- Tessa Auberjonois as Dr. Laurel Oziel
- Jess Weixler as Jill Lansing
All episodes of Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story are available to stream on Netflix.
